Two Webstites Targeting the Same Keywords
-
If I aquire a website in the same industry targeting the same keywords. Should I merge them into one? I understand it's a bad idea to have multiple websites promoting the same thing, but i'd like to capture the customer base of a competing website.
What's everyone's thoughts?
A- Merge new to main website with 301's? will google like that?
B- Keep them separate? Will google like that?
C- Don't bother.
D- Toss the computer and get into Horticulture
-
Thanks Guys. Points well taken.
I considered merging simply because both sites sell basically the same products, so making each unique would be somewhat difficult. My site (A) is much larger, better optimized, ranks well and had much more content. Site B has many products but little content which I think is why it doesn't rank quite as well. I am concerned about how much work it will take to get B up to speed when the same amount of work into A would probably generate more revenue. Just wondered if putting the work into A, redirecting B to A might be the best game plan. But maybe not long term.
-
Another add on to Egol's post is the split of SEO resources. If you don't have the time to build the necessary online properties to rank both it may be an argument for focusing your efforts on one stronger site then splitting resources and having two "also-rans".
-
D is sounding pretty good right now...
You could go either way. Without knowing how much existing content, traffic and the age and authority of your existing site, I will share my recommendation based on the assumption it doesn't have much authority or traffic.
I would merge and put more effort into one site (option A). Focus on high quality, high value information for just one site. As important as content is, dividing your efforts between 2 sites chasing the same keywords would be tough. Combining your effort and time into one site would allow you to do a much better job. 1 + 1 = 3.
An exception to this recommendation is in the case that both have high authority and traffic, but different voices/ personalities. But even in this situation, you could merge and turn it into an a big event/ story of how you are getting bigger and bringing the two communities together in order to bring even more value to the table, etc. - this could help get you some extra publicity and traffic from the situation.
-
There is no sin to building or buying two toy stores on Main Street and there is no sin owning two websites that compete for the same keyword.
The problem arises when you use the same content or very similar content on these sites or when you decide to heavily interlink them.
I have two websites in the SERPs for lots of keywords. Those sites always have TOTALLY DIFFERENT content. Sometimes one is retail and one is informational. They have the same registrant (visible whois) and are both claimed in my Google Webmaster Tools.
If you acquire a new website. Don't take generic advice on what to do with these two domains. Merging them could be a mistake and running them separately could be a mistake.
You might be able do some SEO and design and flip an ugly, poorly optimized, poorly performing website into an asskicking producer. Spend time to assess the site and spend time studying its traffic in analytics.
You might make more money running them separately or merging them might make a lot more sense. I might merge sites that have content with little keyword duplication and with very little backlink duplication. For sites that have lots of overlap it might make sense (if one of them dominates the SERPs) to run them separately.
So, don't take generic advice and don't do this without detailed study.
Finally, know what you are buying, what comes with the deal, what doesn't and what links and content have been placed on this site just to make it look good for the sale but that will be yanked immediately after they have your money.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Keyword stuffing on category pages - eCommerce site
Hi there fellow Mozzers. I work for a wine company, and I have a theory that some of our category pages are not ranking as well as they could, due to keyword stuffing. The best example is our Champagne category page, which we are trying to rank for the keyword Champagne, currently rank 6ish. However, when I load the page into Moz, it tells me that I might be stuffing, which I am not, BUT my products might be giving both Moz and Google this impression as well. Our product names for any given Champagne is "Champagne - {name}" and the producer is "Champagne {producer name}. Now, on the category pages we have a list of Champagnes, actually 44 Which means that with the way we display them, with both name of the wine, the name of the producer AND the district. That means we have 132 mentions of the word "Champagne" + the content text that I have written. I am wondering, how good is Google at identifying that this is in fact not stuffing, but rather functionality that makes for this high density of the keyword? Is there anything I can do? I mean, we can change it so it's not listed with Champagne on all the products, but I believe it would make the usability suffer a bit, not a lot - but it's a question of balance and I would like to hear if anyone has encountered a similar problem, if it is in fact a problem?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Nikolaj-Landrock2 -
How To Optimize A Page For Multiple Keywords
Hi Guys, In this video by Brian Dean he talks about how to go about optimising for multiple keywords. He basically said the main factors for optimising a page for multiple keywords are the following: Identify other keywords with same search intent as your primary keyword. Add them to title tag strategically, don't stuff them in there. Add as many of those keywords as h2 tags into the content, again when it makes sense. Are there any other more advanced ways you can use to optimize a page for multiple keywords with same search intent that could be good? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! Cheers.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | spyaccounts110 -
Please select one, out of two
Which theme is more SEO friendly and Fast loading? Both on desktop and Mobile http://demo.mythemeshop.com/blogging/2014/03/26/age-steel/ Or http://demo.tagdiv.com/newsmag/td-post-cruise-2015-swim-trend-blurred-lines/
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Hall.Michael0 -
If Penguin 2.0 targets specific pages and keywords, should I spend less SEO effort on them since will they be harder to optimize? Penalty repair is only starting at end of year.
I’m working with a company that got hit by Penguin 2.0. They’re going to switch to white-hat only for a few months and review analytics before considering repairing the penalty. In the meantime, would it make sense to focus less SEO effort (on-site optimization, link building, etc.) on any pages or keywords that were penalized or hit hardest? Or are those the pages we should work on the most? Thanks for reading!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | DA20130 -
Image Alt tags--always include the targeted keyword?
Question for all the SEO's out there. Do you always include your target keyword in the image alt tag? For example, if you had an article on osteoarthritis, and you included a photo of an old man, would you put "old man on a bench" or "old man suffering from osteoarthritis" -- even though you have no idea if the old man suffers from osteoarthritis?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | nicole.healthline0 -
Keyword search in Google Adwords
Hello all, I would like to use the Google Adwords Keywords search tool, in order to start working in the structure of my website and targeting the right keywords. I am targeting all the world, all languages, global monthly searaches but: I have the doubt which filte I should use: broad?, exact? or phrase?I am using "braod" but I do not know if I should use exact instead for keyword selection. Would you recommend me any other tool instead of Google Adwords Keywords Search for keyword analysis? Thank you very much Antonio
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | aalcocer20030 -
Website layout for a new website [Over 50 Pages & targeting Long Tail Keywords]
Hey everyone, We are designing a new website with over 50 pages and I have a question regarding the layout. Should I target my long tail keywords via blog pages? It will be easier to manage and list and link out to similar articles related to my long tail keywords using a word press blog. For this example - lets suppose the website is www.orange.com and we sells 'Oranges' Am I going about this in the right way? Main Section: Main Section 1 : Home Page - Keyword Targeted - Orange Main Section 2 : Important Conversion page - 'Buy oranges' Long Tail Keyword (LTK) 1: www.orange.com/blog/LTK1 Subsection(SS): www.orange.com/blog/LTK1/SS1 www.orange.com/blog/LTK1/SS1a www.orange.com/blog/LTK1/SS1b Long Tail Keyword (LTK) 2: www.orange.com/blog/LTK2 Long Tail Keyword (LTK) 3: www.orange.com/blog/LTK3 Subsection(SS): www.orange.com/blog/LTK1/SS3 www.orange.com/blog/LTK1/SS3a www.orange.com/blog/LTK1/SS3b All these long tail pages and sub sections under them are built specifically for hosting content that targets these specific long tail keywords. Most of my traffic will come initially via the sub section pages - and it is important for me to rank well for these terms initially. _E.g. if someone searches for the keyword 'SS3b' on Google - my corresponding page www.orange.com/blog/LTK1/SS3b should rank well on the results page. _ For ranking purposes - will using this blog/category structure hurt or benefit me? Instead do you think I should build static pages? Also, we are targeting more than 50 long tail keywords - and building quality content for each of these keywords - and I assume that we will be doing this continuously. So in the long term term which is more beneficial? Do you have any suggestions on if I am going about this the right way? Apologies for using these random terms - oranges, LKT, SS etc in this example. However, I hope that the question is clear. Looking forward to some interesting answers on this! Please feel free to share your thoughts.. Thank you! Natasha
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Natashadogres0 -
Price Range: Top Notch Keyword Research
How many years would someone need to have to be experienced enough to provide a thorough job of providing me with keyword research? I am willing to pay for the best job but I don't want to be taken to the cleaners...especially by someone that may not be giving me the best effort or that is not qualified. ( I was just quoted $200 an hour from an 18 yr old today) We are getting ready to change our URL's and add keywords but I am not sure which terms to add and in what order. I have heard put the most important words first but I am not sure which are the most important. 🙂 By my research we only have about 5 keywords but I am not sure. (Excluding long tail)
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Boodreaux0